Fishy February fun!Cy And Kerrin Taylor | First Published: February 2008

February in the Whitsundays is a great time for fishing. Big GT around the islands and barramundi at Peter Faust Dam are two highlight styles of fishing for February.

Below we will give you some info on how to catch these fish as well as the lures and times to be fishing for them so that you too can get out there and catch the fish of your dreams.

GT – saltwater fun!

This month giant trevally will be a great target around the many Whitsunday islands and anglers keen to get stretched and tested should attempt to get involved in some serious big fish action.

There are lots of techniques to target these fish but a productive technique is surface stickbaiting, and it’s heaps of fun. The Nomad Ulua is one example of a bluewater stickbait and it’s a great lure for big GT.

Stickbaits are made to dart and dive on the surface, imitating a large mullet, garfish, herring, fusilier or anything big fish like eating.

GT love feeding on the surface any time of the day but the best time is when the current is racing, early or late in the afternoon with some overcast weather. This is the pick of the conditions and if you can find some structure with the current racing you are in with a great chance of hooking a big GT.

On a recent trip, 500m from Shute Harbour, we were casting the Nomad Ulua 120 around some large rocks that the current was belting around. The stickbait was struck by a big fish in close to the rocks and the fish then raced into the deep. After about 3 minutes with a very tight drag the fish was boatside and in the large Environet.

Pushing close to 40kg, it was a great fish which we were stoked with!

Impoundment Barra!

February is a great time to catch impoundment barramundi at Peter Faust Dam as the water temperature is nice and warm and it should be around 28 – 29 degrees on the surface. This warm water is very much to the barra’s liking and they feed heavily.

There are a lot of different techniques to try as February will have lots of active fish in the shallows and out deep in the channels.

Some days will be better than others as barra are more willing to feed on certain days, but it’s hard to predict when the barra will be more active so you have to be persistent. There is an old saying that you cannot catch a fish if your lure is not in the water, so make sure it’s in the water a lot of your fishing time.

A technique which is good is to cast surface lures around places with lots of weed in the morning on still days.

Walk-the-dog topwater lures like Tango Dancers, Rapala X-Rap Walks and Zara Spooks are great for barra and heart stopping for the angler using them.

While working walk-the-dog surface lures, a spin rod is a handy tool as you can walk the lure a lot better, winding and twitching the lure at the same time. Baitcasting tackle can still be used though so don’t be put off if that’s all you bring to Faust.

Sub-surface lures like the Bushy Boney Bream are also perfect for casting over the weeds and are effective with a jig-jig-pause action.

In the day the barra will swim into the deeper areas like drop-offs and gullies to rest. Using deep diving hardbody lures along the contours of these drop-offs will produce good results so the real trick to it all is to make sure you have a range of quality lures with you.